episode_0233

The druids thus decided on a tentative move forward.

Of course, that move did not continue immediately. Since they do not die naturally, they basically tend to look at everything for a long time.

However, coincidentally, it happened so quickly that it could almost be said to be immediate by their standards.

It was thanks to the druid in the form of a bison.

The druid’s ecology is basically to mimic natural creatures, and he was among the herd of bison that Eugene slaughtered for Asha and Adele.

A situation of coincidence after coincidence. From the Druids’ perspective, there was no reason to delay the work since they were not the ones pushing ahead with it, but rather the other side had approached them first.

The druid, who safely escaped Eugene’s line of sight among the numerous bison, suddenly saw the people sleeping in the field.

It was natural not to miss the opportunity.

“…A spirit stands guard. It is a wind spirit with considerable power.”

“Spirit. How ironic.”

It was a druid in the form of a leopard who received the bison’s words. All they could think about was that things were going very well.

Druids, the embodiment of nature, can cause natural phenomena through prayer rituals.

The natural phenomenon referred to here was exactly what the dictionary meant, such as rain, snow, wind, and thunderstorms.

Even the direction was free, such as making it rain during a drought or stopping the rain when a flood came due to a rainy season.

And it also applies to spirits that correspond to living nature.

For example, if you apply a prayer to stop a typhoon, you can put the wind spirit’s consciousness to sleep.

Therefore, from the Druid’s perspective, as long as the opponent was a spirit, it did not matter how great the basic power the spirit had or what great person it had contracted with.

It is a compatibility that can give you an unconditional advantage.

“Let’s start praying.”

A prayer to calm a typhoon requires at least three druids. Coincidentally, there were exactly two druids who came at the call of the bison.

There are three of them, including the bison.

The three druids, who turned into humanoid creatures that walked upright with 10 fingers and toes each, took out the totems they were carrying and stuck them in their respective positions.

“en cardene number phaline adium….”

A spell of unknown meaning whose original origin is unknown. Apart from them, no one heard it, but the effect was clear.

“Uh…?”

Sirocco, who had been vigilant in ensuring that his partner Eugene and his children could sleep safely, disappeared from the scene with a sound of weakness.

“The spirit has disappeared.”

“Has it completely disappeared?”

“No. However, it will not take shape for about three days. In the meantime, it’s as if you don’t exist in this world.”

This was the reason Sirocco failed to respond to Eugene’s call.

“Okay, let’s move on to the next task… Oh no. ”

The Bison Druid, who thought he had eliminated the intruder, took the initiative to take Eugene’s children. However, due to an unexpected situation, his steps had no choice but to stop.

“Dae, what on earth is this? Who is that?”

What he was wary of was Eugene, who was quietly sleeping. This is because now that Sirocco has disappeared for a while, he can no longer feel anything from Eugene.

It was natural. All of the mana remaining in Eugene’s body was thanks to Sirocco’s influence. Through the contract with Sirocco, Eugene can recognize Mana.

And the opposite was also true. Eugene’s mana that people recognize is Sirocco’s. The fact that Sirocco disappeared from this world for a while meant that Eugene was the same as when he first came to this world.

Eugene becomes an inanimate object in the classification of this world. From the Druid’s perspective, it was something that went one step further and went against the laws of nature.

Druids do not understand the concept that creatures do not have mana.

“How can someone like that exist…”

With Mana gone, all that remains in Eugene’s body is faith. However, creatures in the underworld basically cannot sense faith.

In order to feel faith, Eugene needed to either be born as a god like the harpies he had met in the past, or build great faith through endless training.

Naturally, because they believed in nature itself, unlike the elves, they did not even acknowledge the existence of the goddess Prinia, so there was no way they could feel faith in Eugene.

“…I naturally assumed it was a dragon since it is the father of dragons, but it seems like a being that should not be approached hastily.”

“Then what should I do?”

“If you forcefully touch children who are sleeping, there is a high probability that this will happen. So we have to make it natural.”

The bison druid chanted a strange spell once again. This time, it was a spell I performed alone.

Slurp….

Then, as if by chance, the bodies of Asha and Adele fell away from Eugene. To someone who didn’t know them, it would have looked like the children had escaped their father’s arms while talking in their sleep.

This was also the result of the Druids’ magic, and their magic was capable of intending not only natural phenomena but also ‘causally natural phenomena’.

“Good. Then let’s go now.”

Just like the sound of the flute heard in Hamelin, the druids led Asha and Adele to their home base very naturally.

And after Eugene woke up, he was able to see all these scenes using faith.

***

“……Kidnapping, kidnapping.”

I tried to calm the faith that was irritating my pupils and at the same time held on tightly to my sanity.

Just as my faith became difficult to control due to unfamiliar matters, my mind was also difficult to control when faced with the kidnapping of children.

However, going crazy wouldn’t help solve the problem, so I tried to keep my cool as much as possible.

Of course, that didn’t mean the anger subsided.

‘…I guess I’ll have to keep it a secret from Arjen.’

Even if they spoke, it had to be after the children were safely recovered. There is no benefit in saying this to Arjen, who needs treatment.

First of all, for the safety of the children, which is most important, we had to start tracking them right away.

“……Damn.”

Just looking at the past has already consumed a significant amount of faith. But tracking down those who kidnapped the children was more difficult.

I don’t know what kind of magic was used, but there were no physical traces or strange mana flows.

It felt like I was tracking the whereabouts of the wind blowing in a field of reeds. It felt like looking at blank CCTV and looking for the culprit.

In the end, the only way I could choose was not to find and trace traces, but to look back at past scenes.

However, the further the unidentified things moved in the direction of disappearance with the child, the more faith it took to see the past.

Because, unlike the field I was sleeping in just moments ago, it was a place I had never been to.

The place I found while trying to squeeze out all my beliefs was a place where there was an unknown building made of stone, like Stonehenge.

“……Here it is.”

I checked my own condition. Even with empty words, it was impossible to say that he was in good condition. Faith was almost empty.

Under normal circumstances, I would have gotten enough rest or returned to Lair and asked Arjen or at least Wayne for help.

However, in a situation where I was not sure of the children’s safety, every second was urgent, so I had to make a decision and rush into enemy territory.

‘But I still have to say welcome.’

I squeezed what little faith I had left.

Kugugoogung!

As I had hoped, the stone buildings resembling Stonehenge fell with a loud roar.

“What, what!? How did this happen?”

Before the dust created by the falling rock had cleared, an unfamiliar voice was heard. There was no need to wonder about its identity.

Those who are here must be somehow connected to those who kidnapped Asha and Adele, although the degree may be different.

There is no Arjen or Wayne to help me. There is no Sirocco to lend strength. Faith, the all-powerful power, was now woefully lacking.

All that remains is a body that never gets tired.

That was enough for now.

“Who, who…! Gagging!”

As soon as the dust cleared to a certain extent, I kicked the person my eyes met. When I checked the face of the person who was suddenly kicked in the stomach and flew away, I saw that it had the appearance of a zebra.

Next, people with different animal faces came rushing out from a cave with a small entrance located in the center of the stone building.

“Who dares disturb this sacred land!”

The person who was yelling like a lion’s hood really had the face of a lion. The sharp eyes and fear-inducing voice were enough to stimulate fear in everyone.

Of course, it wasn’t to the extent that I could see the child being kidnapped.

“Okay, you might be wondering who I am. If I had known who it was, I wouldn’t have dared to do something like that.”

Even thinking about it again, it’s ridiculous. It would have been difficult for me to dare to do something like this even if I only knew one of the many tricks I have.

“You know who we are…!”

I kicked the crocodile in the face as they tried to introduce themselves. Because his chin was so long, he couldn’t dodge it properly and fell over.

“It’s noisy, where are my kids.”

It was only then, after hearing my question, that I saw the despair in the eyes of those animal heads.